Ben Sasse says if Trump is 'even half-serious' on tariffs, his plan is 'nuts'

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last updated 6 April 2018

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) needs only one word to describe President Trump's announcement that he's considering imposing an additional $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese products: "Nuts."

Earlier this week, in response to the U.S. hitting China with tariffs on $50 billion in products, Beijing decided to raise import duties on $50 billion in American goods. On Thursday, Trump called this an "unfair retaliation," and announced he was contemplating the additional tariffs. This was all too much for Sasse.

In a statement Thursday night, Sasse said he hopes Trump is "just blowing off steam again, but, if he's even half-serious, this is nuts." In justifying the tariffs, Trump has accused China of stealing U.S. intellectual property, and Sasse said that while "China is guilty of many things," Trump has "no actual plan to win" a trade war. "He's threatening to light American agriculture on fire," Sasse continued. "Let's absolutely take on Chinese bad behavior, but with a plan that punishes them instead of us. This is the dumbest possible way to do this."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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